Young Guns II

Alan Silvestri

 
" Have I ever said Silvestri's Western music is Cool? "

Written by Thomas Glorieux - Review of the limited release

Young Guns II of 1990 is the sequel to the successful Young Guns movie of 1988, starring the same group of actors that portrayed their roles in the first film (Emilio Estevez, Kiefer Sutherland, Lou Diamond Phillips, Christian Slater). In this sequel, Alan Silvestri composed a nice little selection of music. But as fate would have it, Bon Jovi was asked to write a bunch of songs for the movie, making sure they received the most attention on the soundtrack release instead (even receiving an Oscar nomination for best song). That resulted in a soundtrack release that was a little uneven, if you can call 1 minute of Alan Silvestri music even worthy of a mention. Luckily Intrada corrected that mistake in 2011 with a score only release.

And the music you're getting is definitely catchy. That's immediately noticeable when you're getting the 2 themes of the film in "Scars". Both are choral supported themes (one slow, one bouncy that will remind you easily of Flight of the Navigator) that gives the album a much appreciated coolness. And basically this cool edge never leaves the album experience. There's the Back to the Future III nods and ditto guitar flavor in "Small Hands", there are the themes that are enlightening the mood in "Finish the Game", there are the dark Predator growls in "Devil's Deal" and there are the cool electric guitar moments in "Battle" that spice up an already flavorable main theme laden cue.

The biggest track "Little Tom Dies" is chock full of familiar Silvestri maneuvers. Touching material, powerful main theme statements, rhythmic action music, basically it has it all. That's followed by a mourning choral main theme statement in "Chavez' Wound" and a soothing one in "Stolen Horse (Finale)"

Young Guns II is not the best of Silvestri's career, but it has 2 of those catchy themes that it doesn't matter whether or not it is his best. It makes for an entertaining listening experience. People who enjoy beats alongside an orchestral western score, like their Silvestri scores full of the familiar composer's maneuvers and don't mind some choir here and there will find much to enjoy in Young Guns II. It's definitely one of those releases that takes us back to an era were everything seemed to be enjoyable.

Tracklisting

1. Scars (5.10)
2. Small Hands (3.04) Excellent track
3. Lynch Mob (4.11)
4. Finish the Game (2.50)
5. Yoo Hoo (2.43)
6. Devil's Deal (1.26)
7. More Than Hello (2.34)
8. Tom Sees the Light (1.30)
9. Coy Dog (2.38)
10. Ride to Guano City (1.09)
11. Battle (2.46)
12. Little Tom Dies (6.49) Excellent track
13. Garrett's Place (1.10)
14. Chavez's Wound (3.01) Excellent track
15. You Gonna Shoot? (3.33)
16. Stolen Horse (Finale) (1.18)

Total Length: 45.52
(click to rate this score)  
 
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(total of 9 votes - average 4/5)

Released by

Intrada Special Collection Volume 181 (limited release 2011)

Conducted by

Alan Silvestri

Orchestrations by

James B. Campbell